‘Rejected in less than a minute’: US denies business visa to Indian IT professional despite ₹1 crore income

US denies B1/B2 visa to Indian techie with ₹1 crore salary, 8-month-old daughter ‘in less than a minute’

An Indian technology professional’s plan to visit the United States for a major industry conference came to an abrupt halt after his B1/B2 visa was denied within a minute at the US Embassy in New Delhi. The senior tech lead, who specialises in Cloud Native platforms, shared his experience on Reddit, where it quickly resonated with others in the IT community.

US visa refusal despite a strong profile

“I had my B1/B2 visa interview at the US Embassy today in Delhi, and I was rejected in less than a minute after just three questions. I’m trying to understand what went wrong and how I can improve for next time,” he wrote.

He said the visa officer asked about his purpose of travel, previous international trips, and whether he had any family or friends in the United States.

“I wanted to visit the US to attend a conference called Kubecon + CloudNative Con 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. I am a senior tech lead at a company and my day-to-day work is on Cloud Native technologies. It is important that I attend this conference to stay up to date on the latest events or movements in this field,” he explained.

When asked about his travel record, he replied, “I answered yes, I have travelled to Lithuania, Maldives and Indonesia,” and said he responded “no” when asked if he had family or friends in the US. Soon after, he was handed a 214(b) refusal slip.

Stable career and family ties failed to help

The applicant said he was taken aback by the rejection, especially given his strong professional and personal ties to India. “I’m employed in India with a stable job for the last 11 years. I make close to a crore annually and have an eight-month-old daughter, so I had very strong motivations to come back to India,” he wrote.

He also mentioned that he had prepared a detailed travel plan with confirmed bookings for the Atlanta conference and accommodation. “The conference wasn’t available for live streaming, so I had planned everything to attend it in person,” he added.

Despite his credentials and established ties, his visa was denied under Section 214(b), which is often invoked when applicants fail to convince the officer of sufficient reasons to return to their home country.